It seemed God passed by—the recurring customary phrase often said when the surroundings suddenly turned into complete silence, like a hush that commanded a lull, or as if a holy existence visited, making every living being in the vicinity still in awe.

  Jania thought of this statement when she no longer heard other students chatting or walking, leaves of nearby trees rustling, and the distant hum of everyday life. She gazed outside the windows at the sky’s vibrant fiery red and orange colors.

  The glow bathed the sleek, modern chairs and long conference table in the Student Government Office. Papers were filed away in their cabinets, and boards were left empty, a stark contrast to their usual clutter of photos, proposals, and event details.

  Everything was at peace.

  Or… It seemed to be.

  The school’s PA system buzzed, and all sound returned to the world. Footsteps echoed through the halls, and the breeze danced through the leaves again.

  On cue, Jania tucked her bck curly locks behind her ear while she walked to her bag on the table. With a swift movement, she slung it over her shoulder, across her body, and went out of the office. The quiet click of the door locking faded beneath the sound of the PA system that crackled before someone’s voice came through, calm yet edged with concern.

  “Good day, my dear students. This is Principal Ezekiel. I am here to remind you all to make your way home promptly, and that today is the st day for everyone to settle any business left on campus since all remaining summer activities and meetings have been canceled until further notice.”

  Jania continued down the hall, returning soft smiles to the students she passed, each one tense yet managed a polite nod or quick wave. Despite the anxious gnces exchanged, everyone remained focused on gathering their things and leaving. The hurried footsteps of students packing up cttered around her.

  “Due to the recent disappearances in our city and, regrettably, the fact that some of those missing are our own students, the administration has made this decision. Please be assured that the authorities are working diligently to address the situation, but we urge each of you to remain cautious and vigint at all times.”

  Jania listened while she descended the stairs. She ignored the burning sensation in her chest and the invisible weight on her shoulders that made her slump. Ever since this whole ordeal started, the pressure in her heart had never let up. Today felt worse, a dull ache that throbbed with each beat.

  “If you see anything unusual or suspicious, or if you encounter any of the missing individuals, please notify the authorities immediately. Also, please remember to look out for one another and to stay in groups.”

  She reached the bottom of the stairs, and the hallway stretched before her. Eager to finish everything she had to do for the day, she quickened her pace and headed toward the main doors.

  “Don’t do anything reckless. Avoid lingering outside alone and keep in contact with your loved ones. Thank you, and may God watch over all of you.”

  The announcement ended when Jania reached the school doors, which were already wide open. Jania walked a few more steps down, and the sun, still hanging low, cast long shadows across the pavement. She walked toward the school’s gates.

  Her footsteps echoed lightly on the concrete as she passed the courtyard. She spotted the two security guards at their usual posts. They stood at the entrance, framed by the stone pilrs that fnked the gate. Their uniforms were sharp, and their faces impassive as they scanned the surroundings.

  She slowed her pace, then stopped beside one of the guards, a figure who had always been there for as long as she could remember. His name was Eric, a 53-year-old man who became a friend of Jania and her group.

  "Hello, Jania," Eric said with a stern face, but his voice was warm and steady. He kept his gaze glued to the surroundings.

  “Hello, Eric,” Jania replied with a friendly nod before gncing at the second guard nearby. "Arman," she added politely.

  The second guard, less talkative, tilted his head in her direction, a sign of acknowledgment, before surveying the area again.

  Having no intention of starting an actual conversation, Jania pulled her phone out of her bag to check some messages.

  “Waiting for your friends?” Eric asked.

  “Yeah,” she said, her thumb flicking through the notifications, and saw new ones from her mom.

  My little cherub, I hope your day’s gone well. Just a little reminder to head home soon and stay safe after your school activities, okay?

  Don’t forget to text me when you are home safe!

  I love you.

  She smiled softly at the familiar warmth of her mother’s words and typed a reply.

  I will, ma. Love you too.

  She hit send and took a deep breath, the tension in her shoulders easing a bit. Then, she opened her dad's message beneath it.

  Go home early.

  Lock the doors and windows.

  See you soon.

  ??

  Brief and direct. And yet, the small heart at the end held a quiet kind of affection. The way her father showed love, even in person. In response, she sent back.

  Thanks, dad. See you soon ??

  Her parents, in spite of being countries away for work, had a way of grounding her. They were always there when she needed them, and she couldn’t wait for them to go home for the summer. However, she never told them about what had been happening in the city, about the disappearances, the strange unease that had settled over everything. It was better that way. She didn’t want to burden them with fears they couldn’t do anything about. Plus, they were coming home soon, so they were still going to know, just a bit ter.

  Jania let out a deep sigh. She pced her phone back in her bag. She looked back at Eric, who was watching other students leave, unconcerned that Jania hadn’t engaged in a conversation.

  That was when she noticed something new. Hanging from Eric’s belt loop were small toy keychains, each one with a different kind of smile. Commonly, Eric carried six of them, but now he had seven. Others might not notice it since all of the keychains had an identical color, bck, and other features were almost simir, except for the lips. The tiny faces carried a sense of friendliness and humor.

  "Looks like Danny completed the main set," Jania said, her voice light as she looked up at him. With a softened smile, she pointed at the seventh keychain.

  This made Eric grin. The mere mention of his kid acted like a switch that turned off all the pressure. “Yeah, my kid managed to get it," he said, gncing down at the keychains with a fond look. “He’s been opening multiple… blind boxes.”

  Jania chuckled at that. She knew how frustrating and addictive blind boxes can be. “Your son is super lucky,” she said, momentarily distracted from the apprehension that had been creeping up on her.

  “He might use up all his luck finding the special collectible,” Eric replied with a ugh.

  Jania chuckled, shaking her head and causing loose curls to tumble over her face. “Just hope he doesn’t end up with a shelf full of duplicates like someone I know.”

  Eric, his joy still lingering, gnced over the eastern area of the school, where a stone path wound beneath a row of trees that led back to another campus building. Recognition flickered in his eyes. "Seems like your friends are here.”

  Jania turned to follow Eric's gaze and spotted two figures making their way toward her. One of them, a girl with dark hair pulled back in a high ponytail, walked briskly, her steps quickening to a jog upon nearing. Her ponytail bounced with each step. She wore a sheepish grin that hinted at an apology before she spoke. Behind her, another friend strolled at a leisurely pace. His face held a calm, nearly disinterested look, his deep brown eyes forward with a practiced poker face.

  “Sorry, Nia,” her friend, Hazel, said as she came to a stop. “We got a bit deyed. Had to double-check that all the sports equipment was stored properly. Aaand.” She shot a pointed look over her shoulder. “Someone decided he had all the time in the world.”

  Richard rolled his eyes and scoffed. “We had enough time.”

  Happy to see her friends arrive, Jania smiled at them. The smile one typically gave when they had endlessly taken tons of photos in a row. No matter how hard Jania tried to shift her emotions, the tension surged again, denser. She tightened her jaw to push the unsettling feeling down and gnced back at the two guards to bid farewell, showing them the same forced bright expression. “We’ll get going now. Stay safe, Arman, Eric.”

  “Take care,” Eric said, straightening his back again. On the other hand, Arman waved goodbye.

  Hazel, Richard, and Jania stepped through the school gates, the chatter and bustle of the campus fading behind them as they walked into the cold air. A broad, paved path y ahead of them, spanning towards the sidewalk with a line of trees at the edges, their leaves rustling gently in the wind. The trimmed patches of grass on either side, now under the ruddy glow of the sun, looked muted and lifeless. The red light cast a faded warmth over the green, turning it a dull, washed-out shade, and the once-vibrant path before them felt desote under the weight of the waning day.

  As they walked, the soft sounds of their shoes on the pavement mingled with the urban noise. All appeared normal, which should be reassuring.

  Jania’s parents were okay. She had to do one more task before heading home. She walked, appearing to be fine, but something itched beneath her ribs; the nagging feeling became noticeable yet again. Perhaps it had something to do with the sky turning too red, or her friend might be…

  “Do you think Mae is okay?” Hazel’s voice broke through Jania’s thoughts, her tone holding a note of concern.

  Even at the mention of Jania’s best friend, Mae, her steps did not falter, walking continuously on the long walkway and staring at the path curving as it neared the street. The question hung in the air like a gloomy cloud, but she didn’t answer immediately. She’d been ignoring the question and not entertaining any negative possibility. Up to this moment, her mind had been steadfast, keeping those thoughts at bay, unwilling to face the grim truth.

  But the nagging feeling might be the conclusion of her best friend’s fate.

  Richard blinked, his dark eyebrows knitting together. He stared at Hazel, his typical sharp gaze dulled by disbelief. “Seriously?” he said. “If you get kidnapped or go missing, you want us to just assume you're okay?”

  "That’s not what I meant.” Hazel tightened her grip in the pocket of her jacket, one of the habits she had when she got nervous. “Sure, the police are doing all they can, but she shouldn’t have gone with him. What was she thinking?"

  “Thinking it would be a normal night out,” Richard muttered, flicking his bangs, his tone dismissive but heavy with frustration.

  By the time they reached the sidewalk, heading east, the three fell into a tense silence.

  Jania adjusted her shoulder strap, her fingers subtly pressing against a certain area, trying to soothe the prickling tension there. The words stung Jania because she knew Mae wanted to hang out with her ex at a bar.

  That didn’t pose a major problem.

  The problem was the bnket of fear seizing her out of nowhere, but she couldn’t convince her best friend. So, Jania swallowed her doubts and now, here they were. Mae was gone. And the rest of the people who were with her.

  “At least most of us are out of town,” Jania said half-heartedly.. Her voice held an upbeat tone, but to her, it seemed hollow. She passed by fellow pedestrians and several patrol officers, their faces flickering in the fading light as they hurried in different directions, oblivious to the unease that churned in her chest.

  “Yeah, good thing,” Hazel said.

  The trio took another sharp turn, where the noise of traffic faded, repced by low murmurs of street chatter, amplified by the rows of vendors and shops lining the pedestrian street. The sight of the district calmed Jania’s nerves a little: bushes of flowers and store windows lit up; their dispys a patchwork of colors, while the occasional street vendor called out about deals and discounts to the passerby.

  Familiar as it was, everything looked different today. The whole street bathed in that unsettling light, turning the dispys and faces around them into shades of deep, simmering crimson.

  Richard gnced around at the bustling area and saw a particurly fshy dispy of gift baskets. He let out a quiet sigh and drummed his fingers in an absent rhythm on his arm, a way to keep his thoughts from drifting too far. “Seriously, I could’ve grabbed something from my house for Mae’s parents. We’ve got, like, a stash of fine wine and imported chocotes lying around anyway.” He shrugged, crossing his arms. "This shopping trip feels… unnecessary."

  “We are here for fresh fruits, Richie. The st time I went to your grand manor, there wasn’t even a single fruit in sight.” Hazel teased and gave him a pyful nudge with her elbow. Her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.

  The three of them coped with the stress in their own ways, yet each shared an underlying effort to cling to a sense of normalcy.

  However, Jania didn’t join in their banter. Instead, she strolled up to a small, open-fronted stall. Fruits and snacks were arranged behind the counter, a simple stand with no doors, with a handwritten sign prociming “Fresh Local Fruits” and “Tasty Snacks!” in vibrant letters, their edges softened by the setting sun.

  "Here to pick up the order," Jania said with a smile to the owner of the store.

  The shopkeeper prepared her order: a stack of three boxes filled with macarons and chocote cookies, the kind she usually picked up with her parents. They were almost home, so she had ordered them ahead.

  “Do you guys want some?” she asked, though she already knew the answer before the words had left her lips.

  Richard and Hazel paused mid-conversation, their attention shifting toward the dispy of goods at the stall.

  "Pass. I’ve got my own snacks waiting for me at home," Richard said, dismissing the offer with a casual wave of his hand, and grabbed the chance to look at something on his phone while Hazel gnced at the dispyed goodies for a long time.

  Jania half-registered Richard’s reply. Her attention had already drifted elsewhere.

  Beyond the shops, a vast, undeveloped plot of nd stretched out, empty except for a couple of stray pieces of construction equipment near the fence. It always looked out of pce, a forgotten patch of nothing in the middle of a bustling area.

  It had always been there, yet today, something about it felt… wrong.

  Why did it unsettle her now?

  Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

  “Nah, I’m on a health kick.” Hazel shook her head. She then looked at Jania, who had a fixed, cheerful expression.

  In actuality, frustration bubbled up in Jania. What had been a dull ache nagging her for days spiked past the threshold. The way her heart seemed right next to her ears. The sensation traveled outward, each beat echoing through her limbs and tightening the muscles in her neck and shoulders. She could feel every pulse humming within her, a raw, vibrating intensity.

  Thump. Thump. Thump

  “Alright,” Jania muttered and slipped the boxes into her rge shoulder bag.

  “Here you go, dear.” The shopkeeper noticed Jania had already packed the boxes, so she offered a wicker basket of fresh fruits. It had a transparent pstic covering the contents and the item, but the handle remained uncovered.

  Thump. Thump.

  Hazel stepped forward, taking the basket. “Let me hold that for you,” she said, unaware of Jania’s growing anxiety.

  Thump.

  Jania nodded with a bright smile. "Thanks, Hazel," she said before turning to the shopkeeper. "Thank you." Then, she sharply turned around with her friends following her on each of her sides.

  A sudden rush of electricity coursed through her, freezing her in pce.

  And then, the world around her went silent.

  The usual din of the street, the chatter of vendors, or the murmur of passersby, vanished. Time itself seemed to stop, and the air thickened. The very fabric of reality had frozen. Everything became unnervingly still.

  Thump.

  “What the—?" Hazel’s voice trembled in disbelief. She turned to the motionless people around them.

  Richard gnced up from his phone. “Did everything just… stop?” His tone dripped with skepticism, almost annoyed in a way that this bizarre scene was an inconvenience to his day. But he couldn’t mask the flicker of arm in his eyes.

  Jania rushed to the nearest building, the small stall where she’d picked up her order, hoping to find some kind of shelter inside. She reached out but struck something solid, an invisible barrier. She pushed harder. The air in front of her felt thick and unyielding, like reinforced gss.

  She looked at her friends, their faces mirroring the same fear tightening in her chest.

  Thump.

  Hazel assessed the frozen figures around her. She stretched her hand forward. Her fingers trembled as she tried to touch one of them. Her hand passed straight through their body. She jerked her hand back, her breath catching in her throat. “What the drix is happening?” She said, full of panic, and instinctively looked at Jania for answers.

  Richard's frown deepened. His eyes flicked to the phone in his hand, and without saying anything, he quickly pressed various buttons and brought the device to his ear. He waited a moment. No dial tone. He pressed it to his ear again, then checked the signal bar. Nothing. Not a single dot. He tapped the screen numerous times. “I—there’s no signal,” he muttered, frustration creeping into his voice.

  Thump.

  The electric feeling zapped Jania in a direction. Jania locked eyes on it.

  What was once an empty space now housed a monstrous mansion, still partially materializing, rising from the shadows and soil. The afternoon’s red glow bled over it, staining the stone with an unsettling hue. It made the mansion look drenched in blood.

  The only thing Jania managed to say was—

  "Run." Jania's voice cracked through the heavy silence, a command that cut through the tension like a bde.

  Hazel bolted first without question, with Jania and Richard following her lead. Gripping the basket’s handle with one hand, Hazel's legs pumped with a steady rhythm, her feet skimming the ground as she charged ahead with determination.

  Richard, already trailing slightly behind, pushed himself harder. His breath quickened as he followed his friends’ backs.

  Jania, her heart pounding, stopped mid-stride as she heard the mansion’s door creak open. The air around them thickened, oppressive, and the st remnants of the building finished materializing. The door released a loud creaking sound as it eerily opened. The wind, once still, began to shift. She felt the wind drawing inward toward the mansion.

  Jania didn’t have to think twice. She took a few quick steps back, reaching Richard’s side. Without a word, she grabbed his hand, pulling him forward with frantic urgency. Richard didn’t resist.

  The wind whipped around them, a low growl building in intensity.

  Jania looked back at Hazel and shouted, “Hazel!”

  Hazel’s feet slid against the ground, skidding to a halt as she whipped her head around, eyes wide with confusion.

  “Grab the mppost!” Jania shouted after she scanned the street. She pointed toward the nearest mppost, the wind started howling in her ears.

  Hazel gnced toward the nearest mppost. She efficiently let the basket fall onto her elbow and reached for the mppost, her hand closing around the cold metal as she anchored herself to it. Her hair fluttered, the tie straining to hold it in pce.

  Before the wind could drag Jania and Richard, Jania lunged forward and closed the distance in a heartbeat. She grabbed Hazel’s hand in time.

  The wind bellowed around them, but strangely, it left everything else untouched. The frozen people and stationary objects remained unaffected, unmoving. The world had become separate from their struggle. Only the three of them were being affected by the pull, caught in the violent grasp of the storm that seemed to exist solely for them.

  Hazel gripped Jania’s wrist tightly. She panicked when the wind became fiercer, and their feet were off the ground. “Hold on!”

  “I’m trying!” Richard’s voice sounded hoarse and frantic. The pull of the manor proved to be too powerful. What was worse, Richard could feel his strength starting to slip. He gnced at Jania’s hand csping his own, doubt flickering in his eyes. He thought maybe whatever monstrosity that mansion was could be satisfied with one of them.

  With an almost resigned movement, he tried to pull his fingers free, thinking he could lighten their load and be the sacrifice.

  But Jania’s grip tightened like iron around his hand, her eyes fierce. “Don’t you dare!” she shouted over the howling wind, her voice a mix of resolve and fury.

  Richard’s heart hammered, taken aback by her intensity. His pn to sacrifice himself shattered under her hand and her firm gaze. Her strength flooded into him, repcing his doubt with a rush of gratitude and resolve. Breathing hard, he nodded, fingers squeezing back, unwilling to let go.

  Hazel’s knuckles were white as she held on. She wasn’t pnning to lose anyone today. Not her friends.

  Sadly, not everything worked in their favor.

  A ferocious gust yanked at them with unimaginable force.

  Hazel’s hands slipped.

  The mansion’s entryway pulled them in like a vacuum, twisting the air around them. Though they still clung to each other, their bodies spun helplessly, locked in the grip of an unseen force. The force of the wind lifted them higher, swirling them through the air like ragdolls caught in a storm. Jania’s mouth set in silent determination as she strengthened her hold on Hazel and Richard.

  Hazel couldn't hold back a sharp, startled scream. She tried to have something to grab hold of as the three of them careened toward the manor.

  The doors smmed shut behind them with a deafening bang. And all that was left was silence.

  The shopkeeper, her hands hovering over the counter, paused and looked around, her gaze sweeping over the scene swallowed by silence.

  In an instant, stillness broke. The bustling street resumed, with the chatter of pedestrians and shop doors opening. All of it came flooding back. The air was warm and familiar again, and the street hummed with life.

  “Oh, it seems God passed by,” the shopkeeper murmured to herself, her voice carrying a soft, amused undertone. She waited for any more customers to come as the warmth of the afternoon slipped away.

  Night had fallen.